| Description |
Immigration and education policies between state and federal levels often push students into a cyclical web of contradictions that replicate systemic injustices and leave many students in a conundrum of uncertainty to their access and continued eligibility to attend higher education. Drawing from Critical Race Theory (CRT), Latino Critical Theory (LatCrit), and Policy Enactment, this study examines how power, White supremacy, and racist nativism can lie within the policy enactment of Utah's H.B. 144 and continue to create gatekeeping practices at one higher education institution, even with policies that create access for undocumented/DACAmented students. By deconstructing the policy enactment of H.B. 144 at Great Basin University and centering the experiences of undocumented/DACAmented students and alumni, this study interrogates how undocumented/DACAmented students navigate the institution vis-à-vis the policies and practices of institutional agents. Disentangling how the policy enactment of H.B. 144 can influence the educational trajectories of undocumented/DACAmented students, the dissertation is meant to put attention towards how institutional agents can maximize access to higher education to undocumented/DACAmented students while working within the confines of rigid policies at the intersections of immigration and education. Overall, my findings unearthed three key tenets of policy enactment of H.B. 144: policy navigation, policy vagueness, and policy compliance. These tenets of policy enactment manifested themselves differently for the two populations of participants in this study. Implications for practice articulate the necessity to develop undocuready college campuses that strategically and holistically train its institutional agents-especially in offices such as admissions, scholarships, and financial aid-on the relevant policies that pertain to the education of undocumented/DACAmented students. |
